Objections answered
If God is good, why is there so much suffering?
The hardest question of all. The Bible does not hide from it: it says evil is real, God is not its author, He entered our suffering in Jesus, and He will one day end it.
The objection, fairly
If God is all-good and all-powerful, why does He allow evil and suffering? For many people this is not a debate but a wound.
What can be said
Without God, it is hard even to call anything truly evil; it is just what happens. The protest against evil assumes a moral standard, which points back toward God.
God made people able to love, and love requires freedom; much suffering comes from its misuse. God can have good reasons we cannot see, as the book of Job shows. Above all, Christianity is the one faith in which God suffers: Jesus wept, was betrayed and was crucified, and His resurrection promises that suffering will not have the last word.
35Jesus wept.
John 11:35 (WEB) · context
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
Romans 8:18 (WEB) · context
28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (WEB) · context
4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4 (WEB) · context
Where Christians disagree
- Christians offer different emphases (free will, soul-making, the limits of human knowledge). All agree God is good and that the cross is His answer to evil.
Sources
- C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (1940)
- Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil (Eerdmans, 1977)
- Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (Dutton, 2013)
Why the evidence matters
If Jesus rose, His offer is real
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.